Super glue? 8D
Or maybe cool glue gun it on?
Could always stitch through the gloves if you can make a small hole in the grimoires to attatch them then apply more putty over the stitching and paint over to cover that bit? (does that make any sense at all?)

Yeah, I think I get what you mean. There are two little bits on the Grimoires which look like screws, which I guess will be where they're gonna be stitched on. I think I found a good base for the grimoires themselves now, a pair of old silver light fittings, which are around the right size, just need to mod them a bit. Thanks for the suggestions!

Taking note of the type of wig you want for Raggy it might help to be upwardly wefted, rather than the average 'flops down the side' type.
Something like this http://shop.cosplay.com/punky.html will help the spikes form as the fiber is already pointing upwards as opposed to hanging down.

In retrospect, checking out a larger selection of wigs would have been wise. When I next plan on doing Ragna, I'll probably plan it better, but for now I'm going to gel the wig I bought to look a little spiky. Just finished the pattern for pretty much all of Ragna's stuff, just sorting out some new fabrics and such for the coat.

A punky wig would have been better as posted above, when i was styling raggys wig i tried nothing else but that punky wig, they dont look as bad once you've styled them, you can see how it worked well here http://cosplayisland.com/costume/view/41884.

punky wigs are so nice for the bigger hairstyles and if you want to tone them down a little they're easy to do with hair spray they fall a little flatter once you've messed with it with hair spray. :3 the normal wigs tend just just flop too far down imo

You know, looking at how you did Ragna's, I am seriously kicking myself for not looking harder. The work you put into it is simply amazing. Yeah, I'm finding this wig to be a bit of a bother as I'm trying to give it some spikes, they have a tendency to flop as you say. Ah well, another learning experience.

Actually, I've found a more appropriate wig on ebay, and I'm wondering what your take on it is:

Yeah, I'd save that wig you have now you'll definately find something in future you can use it for, i always end up doing that. i've ordered wigs and tried styles and its not worked so just gave them a quick rinse down and a brush and left them be and i know i'll see a cosplay that i could use it for, if not i use it for practicing styling on them for future wigs.

You said you wanted a more natural falling spike than the over done side spikes that he's got yes? Then I think that would would work well for something more natural :) definately, and it looks like it wouldnt take much would just hair spray here and there and forming the spikes gently at the ends (dont run your hands down the spikes if they're wet with spray) and a bit of hair styling clay maybe on the tips or spiking gel, but dont use hair gel :D

Shopping List

White wig

£18.00

Bought

Red Material

£13.00

Bought

Buttons and Belt Material

£20.00

Bought

Total

£51.00

Journal

Bloodscythe progress (Posted 26th February 2012)

Been working on the sealed version of Bloodscythe Ragna wields. It's four layers of foamboard held together with UHU glue (practically invaluable in my opinion). I need to cut some plastic tubing for the centre barrel and chamber, then add gold details. The edge needs some neatening up, but I'll be doing that with a friend. After I add the plastic, I'll seal the foam, resin it and paint it. Then a couple of layers of sealer to prevent the paint rubbing off.

(For frame of reference, it reaches up to my ribcage, and is probably just over 1 metre long.)

Expo and Hilarity (Posted 31st October 2011)

So Expo came and went and I was Ragna for three days. A good few people recognised me as Ragna and I saw a great deal of awesome cosplayers. Fought in the tournament, got thrashed by a Platinum player (who was a really nice guy and told me that it was all a matter of practice) and had a great laugh. Met more Blazblue cosplayers including a pretty awesome Kazuma and Relius.

The costume began falling apart midway through day two, with the sleeves splitting at the cuff, but it held up alright. The plastic work like the armour and Grimoires need to be repaired and repainted, and I need to make a pretty awesome Blood Scythe to compete with the Other blazblue cosplayers.

Got mistaken for Dante twice though. Hrmmm.

Now for the hilarity: My boots.

My frakking boots.

Scroll down the journal and you'll see the boots I wore. They are adequate, rather well built and generally alright. But they are a tad uncomfortable and if worn for long periods of time, I get blisters, even with thick socks. Three continuous days of Expo counts as a long period of time. In preparation I ordered new boots about two weeks before hand. In fact, it turns out the pair are the ones featured in Ragna's concept art as their reference. Fantastic.

They arrived 2 minutes after I left for Expo.

I was halfway to the station when my Boots arrived. That is a kick in the teeth.

Having worn them now, they are amazing, red covers will be made later, the coat will be remade since the sleeves are too long, the darts are not quite severe enough and the hemming needs complete restitching. Plus no lining in it, so that means it is a tad itchy. But I frakking loved it. Ragna is a fun cosplay to do, but there are many improvements I need to make.

If you want to see the cosplay, there are a few on Blazblue's Facebook page of me looking extremely derpy and striking the same pose again and again. I'm gonna bother a couple of my friends to perhaps do a photo shoot for Ragna, and maybe convince a few more to cosplay from it (or give Blazblue a play).

(Quick Note: The costume underwent a few changes each day. I bought a new Hakama near the end of day 1, misplaced my spiky wig and used the back up white one and the armour plates were stitched in their place in later photos).

Azure Grimoire... Activate! (Posted 6th September 2011)

So. The First Grimoire is finished, and it is looking pretty awesome. I just need to apply a layer of gloss varnish over the surface to give it the gem like look, attach the elastic to it, voila! One of two.

Plus, I got the materials and patterns worked out for Ragna's shirt and Hakama. By god the material is nice jersey cloth, with a decent sheen and stretch to it. If ever I need a large piece of black clothing (ie, Jin's black suit beneath his uniform), I'll be buying this stuff.

Wig and costume Muck ups (Posted 30th August 2011)

So....

This costume has gone badly so far. My patterns have all been too small and really messy so they've been remade. The wig I first bought for it was pretty ill-suited for Ragna's hair, so a second one has been bought. See the image for the purchased wig.

Then my plan for the Grimoire crystals on Ragna's hands messes up because the resin gem casting solution is really difficult to mix and set correctly. I've been able to salvage 1 gem from four sets (1 set being two different gems), meaning I've wasted about half my solution. So the Grimoires are going slow.
Plus the Hakama I bought, while superb, is not suited for this build at all. It's far too big and is darkish grey rather than black.

So, I've experienced a few setbacks. But it's been a learning experience. This may be a cosplay that may see several rebuilds to get it right. Any advice on this build will be really appreciated. And if it keeps going badly, I'll recycle Hazama for October, and get Ragna or Jin ready for May.

Azure Grimoire Parts (Posted 27th July 2011)

So, I got the necessary parts for the most of the grimoire: The base will be either the suede or leather gloves (care to help me decide?), and the box is a two part coloured resin used to make false gems, which will make the core of the grimoires. Not pictured is the vast amount of milliput which make the silver cases (when smoothed, buffed and sprayed silver).

Though what on earth is the long satin glove for? Well, it's for the black beast's flesh under Ragna's coat. And it feels really nice. And the paper they're all laid out on is the pattern for the overcoat, and I'm working on the under shirt.

Boots! (Posted 12th May 2011)

Got my hands on some nice boots at a car boot which will have covers made for Ragna's ridiculous red boots. Now to heat some plastic and make toecaps.